Candles in the Air
by Sailor Panda
Summary: Sometimes there's nothing left to do but wish.


**AUTHOR"S NOTE:** Takes place after Soul Society arc, probably more geared towards _Bleach_ manga as I haven't been keeping up with the anime episodes, so spoilers for everything up to and possibly a little after that.

Written for the MediaMiner 2005 Summer Summer Oneshot Fanfic Contest inspired by the Japanese Star Festival / Tanabata.

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The air was filled with laughter and other sounds of activity while the night sky was filled with stars, twinkling down from their dark velvet canvas upon those below. But Orihime took a moment to pause in the midst of the Tanabata festivities around her to tuck a long brown strand of wind-tousled hair behind an ear as she cast a wistful gaze upwards at the shimmering stars.

_Candles_, her mother called them, _wishing candles suspended in the air by heaven's grace. Flickering flames of that filled the darkness with their light, waiting for their time to fall and grant someone's heartfelt wish. So wish, wish, wish_, her mother would say, _and maybe one day it will come true and the candle will blow out, it's flame falling to the earth as proof of it's being granted._

As a child she had wished and, as any child would, had believed her mother's words. Now, she was no longer a child though she still wished-

But she no longer believed.

How could she?

Her most fervent heartfelt wish that she'd held dearly for the past year had never come true. And she knew that though she wished with all her heart, just wishing did no good for nothing had changed – except for the overruling of her dreams by the undeniable truth that had unfurled right before her eyes.

_He will never love me._

It was a fact that Orihime knew well, even if there were moments when she deluded herself otherwise, in thinking every so often that there was a chance for her to wend herself into his heart. Though she wasn't the brightest in her class, she wasn't as dumb as some might think her and even she couldn't deny that the one she had her heart set on hadn't been the same since the one _he_ had his heart set on had disappeared from their lives.

"Ahaha! You'll never get me!"

The joyous shriek and a glimpse of vivid color in her peripheral vision had her turning to view their source. The shriek was joined by another and followed by the sounds of splashing water as two young girls took turns besting each other with water while, on the grassy bank nearby, an older man stood watching indulgently. Also nearby, sitting by the older man's feet, was the flash of color that had caught her attention and recognition caused her breath to catch.

Ichigo.

The bright orange of his hair was unmistakable. And though she'd never met them before, she knew of his family and assumed that the man he sat beside had to be his father and that the two girls they both watched splashing each other in their gleeful water fight must be his younger sisters. It was a perfect picture of happy family togetherness.

Or, it would have been if Ichigo looked happy.

But he didn't.

As she observed him unnoticed, her heart ached at the expression on his face, which held no expression at all. The gaze with which he watched his frolicking sisters was blank, and Orihime had a feeling that he wasn't seeing them at all. And Orihime also had a feeling that she knew just what it was that was seeing with that unseeing gaze.

Rukia.

The classmate that had seemed to come from out of nowhere and then left just as quickly. The one that had befriended Ichigo and changed him little by little into the better person that he was today.

The Shinigami they had failed to bring back.

At least they'd saved her from being killed.

Looking back, Orihime still had mixed feelings about what had happened since she agreed to take up training her newfound powers in order to help Ichigo infiltrate Soul Society and rescue Rukia from her impending death by execution. It had been harder than she had thought it would be though, truthfully, she would never in her wildest dreams be able to imagine anything that would top the reality of what had occurred.

Though Rukia hadn't returned with them to the human realm like their impromptu rescue party had planned on, at least she was alive so they had the satisfaction of having saved her life. Orihime didn't know why Rukia had refused to come back with them in favor of remaining in Soul Society, but she still felt shame over her emotions at the news.

She'd been glad.

It was selfish of her, but she couldn't help her feelings. Wasn't it normal? Wouldn't any girl experience the same emotions to know that a rival was out of the picture, leaving room and a chance that the guy would finally, finally notice her the way she wanted to be noticed?

Only, it hadn't happened quite as she'd wished it would.

The guy was supposed to become happy after said rival was taken out of the equation.

Guilt ate at her as the effects of having part of her wish granted glared back at her with an accusatory gaze. True, Rukia was gone, though how much of that was owed to her wishing, Orihime couldn't say. But Ichigo was definitely _not _being made happy as a result.

For a while, after they had returned home from Soul Society, Ichigo had almost seemed back to his old self as he too seemed happy to be back amongst the normalcy of their school days. But as the days wore by, so did that all-was-well veneer of his and she didn't think the new enemies that had popped up had much to do with it. More and more Orihime had observed him spacing out in class as he gazed out the window, his thoughts obviously taking a morose turn and most definitely taken somewhere far, far away from anything that had to do with school.

Orihime didn't know what to do.

She wanted to help Ichigo, but she didn't know how. Her attempts to get him to talk about what was bothering him were unsuccessful, her tries at distracting him from his problems with other things to do were rebuffed, and her shy hints of a possible date flew right over his head.

Orihime cared about Ichigo greatly. But it was more than clear that he didn't feel the same towards her. His consistent un-Ichigo-like behavior lately, however, made other concerns more of a priority though than how he might or might not feel about her. At this point, more than anything, Orihime just wanted something to shake Ichigo out of his increasingly depressed stupor and snap him back to the way he was supposed to be.

What Orihime wouldn't give to have that kind of power…

But she didn't.

Only one person could do that, but it wasn't her.

The sad thought pressed down on her, causing her to bow her head with its weight and, thankfully, removing the sight of Ichigo gazing with unseeing eyes from her gaze if only for a moment. Tears rose unbidden and pricked at her eyes while a sob caught in her throat as the helplessness of her situation caught up with her.

There wasn't anything that she could do.

Except wish.

As people passed her, their laughter and talking and smiles brushed around her as if she wasn't there. But she didn't care, paid them little head as, like a child, she cradled her mother's reassuring words close.

_Wish, wish, wish, and maybe one day it will come true._

And so she clasped her hands as if in prayer and sent her wish up to the hundreds of candles that flickered up in the air. The wish she made came straight from her heart, was all for the one she cared about, and reflected the same sentiments scrawled on a colorful strip of paper waving somewhere on a bamboo branch swaying in the breeze.

"Oh, my God!"

The shout of a familiar voice jerked her head up. It was Ichigo she spied, his gaze wide-eyed and expression holding so much more life than she'd seen in more weeks than she cared to count.

"This- It can't-" Ichigo's loud voice stuttered. "I don't believe it!"

Curious as to such a lively reaction unusual in the Ichigo she had been observing lately, she followed his transfixed gaze. She followed it past where the water fight had stopped at his exclamation, over to the bridge that hung over the stream and connected the two grassy banks, stopped at a familiar figure and then Orihime gave a gasp that went unnoticed by all when she beheld the same sight that Ichigo saw.

"Rukia!"

The cry was full of disbelief and emotion as Orihime watched while Ichigo bounded to his feet, caught up in excitement and oblivious to the curiosity in the gazes of his family, and rushed over to a bashfully smiling Rukia as she stood waiting on the bridge. It was with a mix of bittersweet emotions that she quietly observed them as Ichigo didn't stop when he finally reached her, but swept her up into his arms. Though the distance between Orihime and the scene taking place was far, she could practically picture the surprised expression on Rukia's face when Ichigo crushed her close and captured her in an obviously passionate kiss that caused more than one passing pedestrian on the bridge to stop and stare.

Their faces were both blazing red when they finally broke apart.

Heart cracking just a little, Orihime sighed.

She didn't know what had brought Rukia back or what would happen from then on, but she had no doubt that she'd learn the reason eventually. It was enough for the moment that the one she cared about was back to being the Ichigo she liked the most. And, watching as the two fumbled with their embarrassment amidst the catcalls aimed at them by Ichigo's family and other onlookers, Orihime thought it was for the best.

She looked up at the night sky, the flickering candles that graced them, and gave thanks.

A glimmer of light caught her eye. She watched as a shooting star streaked by, falling from high to the earth below, a candle blown out, a wish given.

Orihime smiled.

She believed.


End file.
